Concrete construction blocks are advantageous in construction of walls for their ease of manufacture and construction, reduced material cost, durability, and insulating properties. Without proper alignment and reinforcement, a wall constructed from concrete construction blocks will lose stability, allow leaks, and be more prone to structural failure and associated negative outcomes that present risks to the safety of individuals and property.
To provide a stable hold between concrete blocks, mortar or grout is typically applied between the gaps of each block to set the blocks in place and prevent shifting. Use of mortar or grout presents a number of disadvantages. If the blocks have been placed incorrectly or the structure or wall formed is uneven or skewed by poor block placement, the entire structure or must be broken down and the spent materials discarded or cleaned before reformation of the structure or wall is reattempted. Further, heavy equipment and machinery used or maneuvered during construction operations, which is common during building projects, may cause vibration or settlement of the structure or wall foundation which can cause wall blocks to shift out of proper alignment. This problem is more common when the vibration or settlement occurs before the mortar or grout dries to set the construction blocks in place. Such disadvantages are costly as the create delays in construction, upsets in construction schedules, and often requires the spent building materials to be discarded and replaced.
A considerable amount of time is taken by construction crews to carefully arrange and properly set construction blocks in place. In many cases a considerable amount of calculation and measurement must be undertaken to ensure the finished structure is accurately constructed. Thus, it should be apparent that the foremost problem concerning construction of structures and walls with concrete construction blocks is ensuring proper alignment of the construction blocks during construction of a wall or other structure.
Another problem of wall construction with concrete blocks is construction of walls adjoining corner or perpendicular walls. Generally, an outer wall is created by stacking blocks end-to-end in stacked rows above each other with mortar applied between each end-to-end block and each ascending row of blocks. A corner or adjoining wall may be created, depending upon whether the blocks have been stacked in parallel columns or staggered rows, by arranging blocks perpendicular to the axis of the outer wall, applying mortar, and stacking each block along the new wall. In general, the formation of a perpendicular wall depends upon the arrangement of the outer wall blocks.
There is a disadvantage in laying of blocks of adjacent perpendicular walls in parallel columns because a flush internal wall surface is created between the adjacent walls. In order to create an adjacent perpendicular wall in such a situation, mortar must be either applied directly upon the outer wall itself to affix new perpendicular blocks to the outer wall or the new projecting wall must be formed at a column interrupting the progression of the outer wall. With either method, forming walls at a ninety-degree angle (90°) in such a situation is considerably difficult. Differences in applied mortar thickness can deflect the desired angle sufficiently to cause imperfections or cracks at the surface of the adjoin walls that may require the new perpendicular wall to be repaired or even deconstructed after the defect has been discovered. Such a problem is not only costly in time but in cost of supplies and man hours.
Forming walls by laying blocks in staggered rows, by extending each successive block partially beyond the end of the blocks above and below allows blocks to be stacked perpendicularly within a wall and allows the blocks to project outward from the outer wall creating a starting point for placing staggered blocks for creating of a perpendicular internal wall. However placing a perpendicular block within the outer wall creates a break in the staggered sequence of the outer wall blocks, making it difficult to form corners at the end of a section of the outer wall.
Another disadvantage typical concrete blocks used in wall construction is in the placement of reinforcement rods or rebar to reinforce the wall sections. Generally, rebar is placed within the inner cells of construction blocks to maintain the structural integrity of the wall while allowing the air pockets created by such cells to remain for expansion and contraction due to changes in external temperature. In such cases cement or grout must be placed within the cells of the blocks along with the rebar in order to hold the rebar and effect such structural reinforcement. If the bond between the cement or grout and the rebar or the bond between the cement or grout of the inner walls of the block cells should fail, the section of rebar used will become useless for reinforcement.
Yet another disadvantage of present concrete block wall constructions is the lack of stability when such a wall is subjected to sustained or frequent gusts of winds such as gale winds or hurricane winds which exceed sixty-four knots or one-hundred eighteen kilometers per hour (seventy-four miles per hour). Concrete walls, being fabricated of concrete blocks, create solid wall surfaces with no passages for channeling of wind through the wall. Such walls typically are constructed by placement of mortar between each brick often lack stabilizing factors sufficient to withstand the perpendicular forces exerted upon them by gale or hurricane force winds. When such walls are exposed to such high winds, the flat walls must deflect inward to absorb the wind forces, which may cause the wall to crack or crumble damaging the wall structure and presenting risk of injury and damage to persons and damage property within.
In light of such disadvantages, there is presently a need for a construction block which will align itself as the wall is constructed and which will allow perpendicular or internal walls to be formed without an offsetting corner formation. A need also exists for an expedient means of reinforcing a wall to reduce the incidence of structural failure without the need of slowing or stopping work.